This weblog discusses the finer points of videogame character costumes.
Philosophy and rules:
1) The ideal costume looks cool, but also has a soul.
2) Overall aesthetics of the game also come into play.
3) A great costume can make a good game great or a bad game warrant a rental.
4) Unlockable outfits must be worth the trouble of obtaining it and playing through the game multiple times.
5) Cosplay is now in the mix!

My favorite is definitely the rider suit. If you're gonna run around chopping down zombies, this is how you want to look doing it.

There's no word of a similar limited edition for the US yet. There are already pre-order bonus outfits so it's unlikely these will go that route. What I think is more feasible is to make all pre-orders an automatic upgrade to a "limited edition" that includes these outfits. That would certainly get me off my butt to pre-order instead of waiting for a price drop.

There are also some multi-player outfits as well, but those revolve around licenses anime characters like High School of the Dead so I'd be shocked if those were released here.

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Soul Calibur V (PS3)
I still have mixed feeling about SCV. While the new character creation options are great, the rest of the game feels a lot emptier. I’m also not a big fan of most of the new outfits for the characters. Ivy’s outfits in particular are a step back from previous offerings. The price has dropped to $39.99 which is about right for what you get. I prefer to get this on Vita, but may jump on the PS3 version soon anyway.

Speaking of the Vita, I looked up Soul Calibur Broken Destiny for PSP and it’s $39.99! I picked up the UMD version for $10 a few months ago. I’d rather have it digitally on the Vita, but not for forty bucks. Looks like I’ll have to just stick with the PSP if I want some Broken Destiny.

King of Fighters XIII (PS3)Put simply, KOF XIII is a fully featured return to form. Tons of modes, lots of fun story elements, improved graphics, a bunch more levels, the list goes on and on. As was the case with Chun Lin returning in SFIII Third Strike, getting Mai back into the KOF fold was crucial for the series to feel whole again. As a collector of KOF titles, XIII will eventually find its way into my library. Recommended.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus (PS Vita)I played this on Xbox (Black), PS3 (Sigma), and now the PS Vita (Sigma Plus). If you’ve never played the game, the PS3 is the optimal way to experience it, but if you want it portable, Sigma Plus is pretty great. If this gets a sale on PSN, I wouldn’t mind picking it up again for another play through on a plane.

Darkstalkers (PSP/ PS Vita)I wanted to check out a PSP game on the Vita so decided on Darkstalkers since I don’t seem to have a version of the game on another system right now and it’s one of my all-time favorites. I transferred it to the PSP just to compare to how it runs on the Vita and there is definitely a noticeable improvement. That said, it’s not quite as vibrant and colorful as I would like. The audio does sound better coming out of the Vita speakers though. For $9.99, I’m happy.